Confronting darkness
Darkness describes the domain of Satan just as light describes the domain of God. The entrenchment of darkness was first seen in the first chapter of the Bible where darkness was associated with the state of disorder, chaos, lifelessness as observed on the earth before it was redone by God.
It is incisive to note that the first action of God was to bring forth light before proceeding with all other works of remaking the earth. By releasing light, he confronted the menace of darkness.
As mentioned earlier, darkness is symbolic of the devil and his works. And Jesus who is the light proclaimed that he has come to give abundant life as opposed to the devil who by the means of darkness seeks to perpetuate obstruction, destruction and opposition to everything that is good, glorious and of God.
By declaring, “let there be light” in the midst of darkness, God modeled to us how we ought to confront the manipulations and manifestations of darkness. God said let there be light. He decreed it to be so and it was so. You should understand that the right to declare something to be on the earth as done by God is given to the children of light by Jesus Christ himself and this in the context of prayer. He said, “Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.” To bind means to refuse an occurrence and to loose means permit an activity. So in prayer what we are doing is binding darkness - restricting and resisting its operation. We also loose light, releasing it and the accompanying life and blessings.
Since we are called as Christians to bind darkness and release light, how then can we best do this effectively?
1. The key of Jesus’ name
We have to stand in God’s stead to be capable of proclaiming that something happens and for it to be so. This reality is ours as we use the name of Jesus in the exercise of prayer.
The name of Jesus is a key to our releasing light, thereby confronting darkness. That name is the name of God. And to say or do something in another’s name is to do it with their permission and authority. The authority of Jesus himself is activated when his name is employed in the act of praying. It goes without saying that Jesus’ authority is the highest authority there is. Therefore resist the devil in the name of Jesus – doing exactly as he did when on earth, since he had zero tolerance for the works of darkness. We as Jesus’ followers have been enlisted to act on his behalf, releasing God’s light, resisting the devil’s operation, his oppressions, and his general works of stealing, killing, and destroying.
Don’t let the devil steal your joy, peace or your prosperity. Confront his works wherever you see it.
Jesus had the testimony that he went about doing good and healing all who are oppressed by the devil. When we use the name of Jesus it implies that Jesus himself is present to deliver people from the oppression of Satan’s kingdom, releasing the light of his own kingdom which leads to life abundant.
2. The key of God’s word.
The word of God is another key to confronting darkness. This was modeled to us by Jesus in his own encounter with Satan. The word of God that you agree with and you proclaim against the operation of Satan becomes the sword of the Spirit, active in the realm of the unseen and cutting off the cords of the spiritual influence of Satan around.
In battling with the influence of Satan around us the word of God is a key. Speak forth the counsel of God as revealed in the scriptures, and by so doing counteract Satan. Proclaim the blessing of the word of God into your homes, offices and into the nation. The word of God is representative of God and it is God because it represents the will of God. The word of God in your mouth in the place of prayer is the divine decree waiting to be announced to put into effect God’s will to paralyse darkness.
3. The key of fasting.
Fasting is another means of confronting darkness as prescribed by Scriptures. The LORD through prophet Isaiah, disclosed that the purpose of a fast is to “loosen the bonds of wickedness”, in one’s life, in another’s or in our environment.
By fasting we engage the forces of darkness. This is because in fasting we deprive our physical selves to release\enhance the light of God in our spirit. We have to die to ourselves to be alive to God and his realm. And in fasting this is done in a measure. Our flesh is deprived, our spirit is more alive, empowered to release God’s light of glory within us and dispelling darkness. It is important for you to note that the name of Jesus, the word of God and fasting are part and parcel of effective praying. The name of Jesus gives the authority in our praying, the word of God is the basis of our praying, and fasting releases more power into our praying.
4. The key of spiritual sensitivity.
Spiritual sensitivity is another vital key to confronting darkness. Our spirits as believers possess the power of intuition. This faculty, when developed, enables us to discern\recognise the operation of darkness.
This is revealed in the encounter of Paul with a spirit of divination in the city of Philippi. We need to be spiritually sensitive to be able to discover the subtle workings of darkness. The enemy seeks to hide himself behind seemingly common\natural human experience or earthly phenomenon. This includes natural disasters, rebellion in youth, illnesses, financial constraints, accidents, recurring negative events, false accusations, angry words from others, a wrong advice e.t.c. They seem part and parcel of the human experience, but they could be a cover for satanic oppression and the expression of darkness. Be spiritually sensitive to be able to see “natural” events by what spiritually initiates them and not just how they present. This takes some training in the usage of our spiritual faculty of intuitive judgment. Things are not always what they seem.
To fish out the works of darkness and confront them, we need the spiritually indicator light in our spirit to indicate to us whether something has its source with Satan.
As described above, a vital key to confronting darkness is to first and foremost be able to see with God’s eyes so as to see darkness as it is. By this we would be able to say like Paul that we are not fighting as someone hitting the air, but we are confronting darkness in a targeted manner and overcoming it with great efficiency.
Conclusion
Putting the above thoughts together, we are enjoined by scriptures to watch and pray. This implies that we should pray according to what we perceive with our spiritual eyes. As we are spiritually aware of what is going on in the spirit, we should be prayerfully engaged in confronting darkness, using the word of God and in the name of Jesus declaring- let there be light. Your dawn is here.
It is incisive to note that the first action of God was to bring forth light before proceeding with all other works of remaking the earth. By releasing light, he confronted the menace of darkness.
As mentioned earlier, darkness is symbolic of the devil and his works. And Jesus who is the light proclaimed that he has come to give abundant life as opposed to the devil who by the means of darkness seeks to perpetuate obstruction, destruction and opposition to everything that is good, glorious and of God.
By declaring, “let there be light” in the midst of darkness, God modeled to us how we ought to confront the manipulations and manifestations of darkness. God said let there be light. He decreed it to be so and it was so. You should understand that the right to declare something to be on the earth as done by God is given to the children of light by Jesus Christ himself and this in the context of prayer. He said, “Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.” To bind means to refuse an occurrence and to loose means permit an activity. So in prayer what we are doing is binding darkness - restricting and resisting its operation. We also loose light, releasing it and the accompanying life and blessings.
Since we are called as Christians to bind darkness and release light, how then can we best do this effectively?
1. The key of Jesus’ name
We have to stand in God’s stead to be capable of proclaiming that something happens and for it to be so. This reality is ours as we use the name of Jesus in the exercise of prayer.
The name of Jesus is a key to our releasing light, thereby confronting darkness. That name is the name of God. And to say or do something in another’s name is to do it with their permission and authority. The authority of Jesus himself is activated when his name is employed in the act of praying. It goes without saying that Jesus’ authority is the highest authority there is. Therefore resist the devil in the name of Jesus – doing exactly as he did when on earth, since he had zero tolerance for the works of darkness. We as Jesus’ followers have been enlisted to act on his behalf, releasing God’s light, resisting the devil’s operation, his oppressions, and his general works of stealing, killing, and destroying.
Don’t let the devil steal your joy, peace or your prosperity. Confront his works wherever you see it.
Jesus had the testimony that he went about doing good and healing all who are oppressed by the devil. When we use the name of Jesus it implies that Jesus himself is present to deliver people from the oppression of Satan’s kingdom, releasing the light of his own kingdom which leads to life abundant.
2. The key of God’s word.
The word of God is another key to confronting darkness. This was modeled to us by Jesus in his own encounter with Satan. The word of God that you agree with and you proclaim against the operation of Satan becomes the sword of the Spirit, active in the realm of the unseen and cutting off the cords of the spiritual influence of Satan around.
In battling with the influence of Satan around us the word of God is a key. Speak forth the counsel of God as revealed in the scriptures, and by so doing counteract Satan. Proclaim the blessing of the word of God into your homes, offices and into the nation. The word of God is representative of God and it is God because it represents the will of God. The word of God in your mouth in the place of prayer is the divine decree waiting to be announced to put into effect God’s will to paralyse darkness.
3. The key of fasting.
Fasting is another means of confronting darkness as prescribed by Scriptures. The LORD through prophet Isaiah, disclosed that the purpose of a fast is to “loosen the bonds of wickedness”, in one’s life, in another’s or in our environment.
By fasting we engage the forces of darkness. This is because in fasting we deprive our physical selves to release\enhance the light of God in our spirit. We have to die to ourselves to be alive to God and his realm. And in fasting this is done in a measure. Our flesh is deprived, our spirit is more alive, empowered to release God’s light of glory within us and dispelling darkness. It is important for you to note that the name of Jesus, the word of God and fasting are part and parcel of effective praying. The name of Jesus gives the authority in our praying, the word of God is the basis of our praying, and fasting releases more power into our praying.
4. The key of spiritual sensitivity.
Spiritual sensitivity is another vital key to confronting darkness. Our spirits as believers possess the power of intuition. This faculty, when developed, enables us to discern\recognise the operation of darkness.
This is revealed in the encounter of Paul with a spirit of divination in the city of Philippi. We need to be spiritually sensitive to be able to discover the subtle workings of darkness. The enemy seeks to hide himself behind seemingly common\natural human experience or earthly phenomenon. This includes natural disasters, rebellion in youth, illnesses, financial constraints, accidents, recurring negative events, false accusations, angry words from others, a wrong advice e.t.c. They seem part and parcel of the human experience, but they could be a cover for satanic oppression and the expression of darkness. Be spiritually sensitive to be able to see “natural” events by what spiritually initiates them and not just how they present. This takes some training in the usage of our spiritual faculty of intuitive judgment. Things are not always what they seem.
To fish out the works of darkness and confront them, we need the spiritually indicator light in our spirit to indicate to us whether something has its source with Satan.
As described above, a vital key to confronting darkness is to first and foremost be able to see with God’s eyes so as to see darkness as it is. By this we would be able to say like Paul that we are not fighting as someone hitting the air, but we are confronting darkness in a targeted manner and overcoming it with great efficiency.
Conclusion
Putting the above thoughts together, we are enjoined by scriptures to watch and pray. This implies that we should pray according to what we perceive with our spiritual eyes. As we are spiritually aware of what is going on in the spirit, we should be prayerfully engaged in confronting darkness, using the word of God and in the name of Jesus declaring- let there be light. Your dawn is here.